I'm working on a bug fix for a particular scenario, and I'm not sure of the right answer. So here it is: should ships be spawned at the witchpoint location if the beacon itself has been destroyed? I don't think there's any technical impediment, but I'm thinking conceptually or logically, as part of the game world.

I don't think there's any technical impediment, but I'm thinking conceptually or logically, as part of the game world.

Interesting, is the witchpoint buoy merely a navigation help or is it essential to travel to the system ? If the 2nd applies after the destruction it would be impossible to go there until a new buoy is in place. What happens with ships already on the way ? Do they finish their journey as the wormhole already was opened or do they strand in interstellar space ?

_________________Trying to survive behind the controls of a Caduceus Psi XT in Alpha test

Last edited by montana05 on Mon Dec 04, 2017 1:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

should ships be spawned at the witchpoint location if the beacon itself has been destroyed?

I can see the merit in making the WP buoy an integral part of interstellar navigation: otherwise, why is it there? Ships already en route might be OK, but if the buoy is destroyed, it might be difficult/impossible to open a new wormhole to the system. Or ships might just start appearing randomly all over the system.

Then again, if the WP buoy is a vital part of interstellar navigation, shouldn't it be a lot harder to destroy?

Then again, if the WP buoy is a vital part of interstellar navigation, shouldn't it be a lot harder to destroy?

<grins> This why I sidestepped the conceptual/logical angle.

We could just make them very, very tough … *waves hands* because they're anchored in subspace, any energy that hits them - lasers, collisions, etc. - gets channeled into the fabric of local spacetime, allowing them to absorb weapons fire and impacts without being damaged. Or something.

Which would require tweaking Thargoid behaviour, so they don't try shooting the buoys. Unless Thargoid weapons can damage them …

I'm a fan of the Buoy Repair OXP but - if we assume that the buoys are there for any sort of urgent purpose - then they are, currently, very very very fragile. It's a bit like having inflatable lighthouses: they'd be relatively cheap to make, and easy to replace when they inevitably burst, but after a while you'd have to ask if it wasn't better, safer and in the long run cheaper to build them out of granite!

The main function of WP buoys is of course to mark a dangerous zone where ships could pop anywhere and anytime. They also have a built-in transmitter that broadcasts its coordinates which the ASC automatically picks up.